Air pollution: where do hydrocarbons come from

Journal Article · Fri Jul 25 04:00:00 EDT 1975 · Science (Washington, D.C.); (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1126/science.189.4199.277· OSTI ID:6438063

Maugh, II, T H

Man's knowledge about air pollution and its causes is limited. Despite the laws that have been enacted to curtail emissions of potential pollutants from automobiles, for example, the role of automobile emissions in the genesis of the most severe forms of pollution, including photochemical smog, is incompletely understood, The lack of knowledge about this subject was recently illustrated by the controversy surrounding a report which concluded that in certain areas and under certain conditions, hydrocarbons released from trees and other vegetation may be more important than those released from automobiles in the initiation of smog. This possibility, which is based on very preliminary results obtained from limited data, has been sharply criticized by many investigators who have argued - largely on the basis of intuition - that the hypothesis cannot be correct. But the fact of the controversy is that there is not enough background information either to support or to refute the hypothesis.

• OSTI ID: 6438063
• Journal Information: Science (Washington, D.C.); (United States), Journal Name: Science (Washington, D.C.); (United States) Vol. 189; ISSN SCIEA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

500200* -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AIR POLLUTION
AUTOMOBILES
EXHAUST GASES
FLUIDS
GASEOUS WASTES
GASES
HYDROCARBONS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PHOTOCHEMICAL OXIDANTS
POLLUTION
POLLUTION SOURCES
SMOG
VEHICLES
WASTES